I'm trying to force myself to not write until Sunday, partly so I don't get ahead of my own story and partly because I'm actually starting to genuinely feel bad at how much I'm piling on you and one other person who is behind on reviews. I do have the Quintis Wedding Challenge to gif, so that should occupy me alright.

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"Please stop debating whether or not I aged well. Unfortunately it hurts all three of my feelings." - Carrie Fisher, 1956-2016

Getting this chapter up has done a lot to make me feel like my life is getting back to some sense of normal. I've really felt like I've spent this entire year so far doing nothing but work - and working on the blasted mortgage. It feels good to accomplish something that's just for me - and for whoever is still reading IC.

In my earlier fic, What A Long, Strange Trip, Walter went to Tahoe, Tim punched him in the nose (through a misunderstanding), and Walter struggled through drugs, his swollen nose and the drive back to LA to tell Paige he loved her.

Internal Combustion opens the next morning in the garage. Paige spent the night to make sure Walter would be okay, since he's still on pain killers. When she comes down the stairs, Toby is there and teases her predictably until Walter comes down and they tell him about Walter's mishap in Tahoe. After Toby leaves, Walter and Paige go to her apartment where they tell Ralph about the change in their relationship. On the drive home, Walter stops by the beach and has an imaginary talk with Megan in which he tells her he's fallen in love.

The next morning is Monday and Cabe arrives at the garage with a case. Walter and Paige have told Sylvester their news, and after Cabe describes the new case, Walter has a little tirade about office romances. He's upset because the case is all about self-driving cars and they really need Happy, but she's off with her dad and they can't reach her. Paige sees his rant as a rejection of their relationship and she gets upset. Walter tries to assure her that they will be able to work this out without affecting Scorpion. Cabe realizes that they are a couple now and calls Scorpion "freakin’ Peyton Place".

Paige continues to fret privately that Walter may regret their change in status. Toby is chosen to check out the cars and goes undercover as a test driver while Walter works on the software servers to find the source of the sabotage. Meanwhile, Happy is out on a fishing boat with her dad, trying to figure things out. Cabe has a nice talk with Paige and assures her that Walter loves her and won't back out on her.

Happy calls Toby while he's test driving and they agree to meet and talk at Paige's old diner. Happy tells Toby all about her marriage. She was young and another foster kid convinced her that even as minors they could get out of the foster care system if they got married, which would allow them to become emancipated minors. It was a marriage in name only, but he turned out to be a jerk who let her work to support them while he just hung out with his friends. Finally, she left him and spent a few years going from town to town and job to job to keep him from finding her.

While Toby and Happy are at the diner, Walter returns to the garage to find Paige up in the loft with dinner for them. While the dinner is cooking, they get comfy on the couch and finally manage to kiss as a couple for the first time - Walter's nose made it impossible before now. Just as things get steamy, the phone rings. It's Happy. She and Toby are at the hospital. They were in an accident in the self-driving car.

Walter and Paige arrive at the hospital to find Happy very shaken. Toby is all right, but he has a broken collar bone and will be kept overnight. Happy is okay, but will spend the night in the hospital with Toby.

Walter and Paige go back to the loft. Paige is shaken. Toby's injury has made her realize how anything can happen and she wants to stay the night with Walter - not to do anything, just to be with him. He agrees and tells her he enjoyed having her with him the previous night. They have a very awkward talk which finally comes around to neither one of them really wants to just sleep. Then comes a few pages of M-rating. After making Paige happy twice, Walter catches Paige yawning and insists they should go to sleep, even though he hasn't had his happy time. They wake up in the morning and finish what they started, during which Walter employs knowledge of geometry to good advantage.

Walter and Paige return to the hospital. Toby is going to be released and Paige will take him home and look after him while Walter and Happy go to have Happy look over the wrecked car. Toby immediately realizes that Waige have had sex. While looking over the car, Happy talks to Walter about him and Paige. She wants to be sure he's okay with what's happening. Walter agrees to help Happy track down her husband.

Back at the garage, Sly is working through the computer code for the cars. Ralph comes in from school and starts helping him. Ralph figures out that the problem isn't in the software. He suggests they've been so focused on the software company that they haven't thought of any other possibilities. He suggests the problem might be from someone hacking into the drivers' phones and using the cars' Bluetooth connections to cause the accidents.